Ingot buggy



J. C. REED INGOT BUGGY Se t.- 12, 1950 3 Filed on. 4, 194a J. C. REED Sept. 12, 1950 INGOT BUGGY 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Oct. 4, 1945 J. C. REED INGOT BUGGY Sept. 12, 1950 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed Oct. .4, 194

I J 1 l I I I l l I I I I I I I I I 4 l ll J. C. REED INGOT BUGGY Sept. 12, 1950 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 Filed Oct. 4, 1946 Jam 6. 18600;;

J. c. REED INGOT BUGGY Sept. 12, 1950 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed Oct. 4, 1946 Patented Sept. 12, 1950 INGOT BUGGY John C. Reed, Steelton, Pa., assignor to Bethlehem Steel Company, a corporation of Pennsylvania Application October 4, 1946, Serial No. 701,143

12 Claims.

My invention relates in general to apparatus for conveying heavy objects, and more particularly to an improved ingot buggy for steel mills.

In order to heat large ingots to the uniform high temperatures required for rolling, it is customary to charge the ingots after stripping into the soaking pits in an upright position. At appropriate intervals, the craneman will draw an ingot from its pits and deposit it on an ingot buggy, or pot car, which will convey it to the blooming mill roll table.

Individual variations in the size, shape and quality of ingots sometimes render it advisable to deliver the ingot to the blooming mill rolls with the top end, and at still other times the bottom end, foremost. The usual design of ingot buggies is restricted to one-end delivery, or else requires additional and expensive motors and handling means to manipulate the heavy ingots.

One object of my invention, therefore, is to provide an ingot buggy in which the weight of the ingot will automatically tilt the receptacle in the desired direction for discharge through the initial positioning of the ingot in the receptacle.

Another object is to provide an ingot buggy having simple and reliable means for controlling the gravitational discharge of the ingot as predetermined by the crane operator.

Still other objects, purposes and advantages oi the invention will appear hereinafter in the specification and in the appended claims.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a diagrammatic over-all side elevation showing the cable drive of the ingot buggy;

Fig. 2 is a section of the rearwardly tilted ingot bug y taken on the line 22 of Fig. 6;

Fig. 3 is a top plan detail view of the weightoperated releasing latch;

Fig. 4 is a side elevation of the buggy with the ingot receptacle tilted forwardly;

Fig. 5 is a top plan view of the ingot buggy with the ingot receptacle in normal position;

Fig. 6 is a front end view of the buggy with the ingot receptacle in normal position;

Fig. 7 is a top plan detail view of the driving drum, with motor and limit switch;

Fig. 8 is a top plan detail view of a portion of the track showing one of the guide sheaves;

Fig. 9 is a section taken on the line !-9 of Fi 8;

Fig. 10 is a side elevation, with the ingot receptacle in normal position, of a modified form of ingot bug y;

Fig. 11 is a front end view of the modified b11889;

Fig. 12 is a top plan detail view of a springoperated releasing latch, taken on the line |2--l2 of Fig. 11;

Fig. 13 is a section taken on the line l3l3 of Fig. 10; and

Fig. 14 is a fragmentary detail view of one of the trunnion bearings, taken on the line l4ld of Fig. 10. 7

Referring to the drawings, it will be noted that the reinforced concrete foundation I having laterally spaced integral piers 2 supports the longitudinally extending I-beams 3, provided with reinforcing web-plates 43, on which I-beams are mounted the rails 5 forming a track for the truck or carriage t. The frame of said truck or carriage 6 comprises a pair of substantially trapezoidal side plates i joined by welded longitudinally spaced laterally extending upper cross members or lI-beams t and lower cross members 9,

and may also be provided with front end plates it and rear end plates ii and bottom plates E2. The upper cross members 8 support on each side the downwardly sloping top plates i3, upon which are mounted the trunnion supports it and bearings if) in which are journaled the rollers it which constitute a forwardly inclined discharge roll table. Flanged wheels ll secured to axles it journaled in bearing-boxes it support the carriage t on the rails 5, and a scale hopper pan 20, as shown in Fig. 10, will prevent scale from hot ingots dropping onto the track.

The top of the carriage 6 is provided with a transverse ingot end rest 2 i, which may be fabricated of a welded flat plate 22 and enclosin angles 23, as shown in Figs. 2, 4 and 5, or with the flat plate 22 alone, as in Fig. 10, or the enclosing angles 23 alone, or any other form of transverse or longitudinal ingot rest of cast or fabricated design. If it is desired to rest the ingot directly on the rollers it, the ingot rest may be omitted entirely. In bearings 24 mounted over the ingot rest M are pivoted the trunnions 25 of the ingot receptacle 26.

Said ingot receptacle 26 comprises a pair of laterally spaced side plates 2! outside the carriage 6, which side plates as shown in the drawings are substantially scutiform or shield-shaped,

and may be perforated as shown in Fig. 10 if desired, although other forms may be used if desired without essential change.

Said side plates 21 are provided with bottom counterweights 28 and upper internal braces 29. At the upper corners of the receptacle 26 either the welded cross plates 30 (Figs. 2, 4, 5, 6) or preferably the round bars 3i less rigidly held in 3 the apertures 32 by cotter pins 32 (Figs. 10, 11) will support the ingot 34 tilted forwardly or rearwardly at a substantial angle, of the order of 30 or more, from the vertical.

The receptacle itself, however, is normally held upright by a releasable latching device 36 mounted laterallyon the carriage 6, provided with outer rollers 36, and engaging in slots 31 on each side of the receptacle 26. One such form of latching means, best shown in Figs. 3 and 6, comprises the pair of swinging arms 36, each arm being pivoted on a pin 39 in brackets 40 on the carriage 6 and provided with a counterweight 4|. Another and simpler form of latch, shown in Figs. to 13, inclusive, comprises a, vertically movable length of bar or shafting 42, which extends across the lower part of the carriage 6 and is held in position in slots 43 on each side by coil springs 44 compressed within protecting keepers 45.

On each side of the track at the discharge end, adjacent the mill entry roll table 46 and spring stop or bufler 41, is erected a plurality of stationary upright members 48, which may be channels or similar rolled shapes, supporting a downwardly curved latch-tripping bar 49 and bifurcated tilting control device 58, the latter having an upper rear guideway SI and a lower rear guideway 52 merging into an intermediate guideway 53, which is adapted to receive a guide roller 54 mounted on the ingot receptacle 26.

The drive for the buggy may be similar to those conventionally used to operate the skip hoists of blast furnaces and the like, the starting of the buggy from the soaking pits being controlled preferably by the crane operator and thereafter the operation being automatic until the return of the buggy. As appears diagrammatically in Fig. 1, and in somewhat more detail in Figs. '7, 8 and 9, it consists of a motor 55 driving through coupling 56, shaft 51 and gears 58 the grooved cable drum 68, and through the sprocket chain 60 actuating the ordinary limit switch 6| which controls said motor 55. On said grooved drum 59 are reeled the two traction cables 62 of approximately equal length, which pass over a series of guide sheaves l3 and end sheaves 64 mounted on the pivoted bell crank arms 66 having counterweights 66 to take up slack in the drag cable. A connection 61 secures said cables 62 to the bottom of the carriage 6. It is possible, of course, to use any other means of locomotion which can be suitably con trolled, instead of the cable drive.

In operating this apparatus, the crane operator will deposit an ingot 24 from the soaking pit in the receptacle 26, the ingot being tilted eitherforward or backward according to which end of the ingot heidesires to have first enter the rolling mill. This will cause a corresponding shift in the natural center of gravity of the loaded receptacle to the front or rear of the longitudinal center, but the latching device 35 will still hold the receptacle 26 upright. Th operator will then start the motor 55, which will drive the cable 62 and advance the ingot bug y upon the track.

When the ingot buggy reaches the terminal point, the guide rollers 54 will enter the intermediate guideways 53 of th tilting control devices 60 and the tripping bars 49 will release the latching devices 35. 'Upon release of the latches the receptacle 26 will continue to be held against tilting by the guide rollers 64 in the guideways 53 until said rollers reach the forked intersection ingot 84 was initially tilted toward the rear of the receptacle 26, the guide rollers 64 will follow the upper guideways BI and the ingot will be discharged from the receptacle onto the inclined rollers II and thence onto the mill entry table 46 with its bottom end foremost. The rollers of said mill entry table 46 are conventionally motordriven in a forward direction and may be of graduated sizes as shown in Figs. 2 and 4 to form in efiect a curved continuation of the inclined rollers l6 oi the ingot buggy. If, on the other hand, the ingot was initially tilted forward, the guide rollers 64 will enter the lower guideways 62 and the ingot will be discharged with its upper end foremost. when the ingot buggy is withdrawn from the tilting control devices 66, the receptacle 26 will return to its original upright position. The counterweights 28 are not absolutely essential for this return movement, but do contribute to the smoothness of operation.

It should be noted especially that in my device it is the ingot itself which tilts the receptacle selectively and gravitationally, as distinguished from previous devices in which receptacles have turned the ingots by mechanical means. Accordingly, if the intermediate guideways 53 were extended to full length of the track it would be possible to dispense with the latching devices 36. Moreover, the cross-connection between the two sides of the receptacle need not be rigid, and if desired could even be a chain or similar flexible connection, since the turning of each side is controlled by its own cam device, the two. cam devices being identical, and each side is separately controlled and constrained in an upright position by a common latching device.

Although I have thus described my invention hereinabove in considerable detail, I do not wish to be limited strictly to the exact and specific structures mentioned, but I may also use such substitutions, modifications or equivalents thereof as are included within the scope and spirit of the invention or pointed out in the appended claims.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and useful and desire to protect by Letters Patent is:

1. An ingot buggy comprising a wheeled car-- riage, an ingot receptacle weighted at the bottom and trunnioned on said carriage, and coacting cam and follower means for controlling the discharge of ingots from the receptacle.

2. An ingot buggy comprising a wheeled carriage, a roll table mounted on the carriage, a receptacle trunnioned on the carriage adapted for holding an ingot inclined at an angle from the vertical, a latch mounted laterally on the carriage and normally engaging the receptacle to hold the same upright, external contact means for releasing the latch, and means for controlling the gravitational discharge of the ingot from the receptacle after the latch is released.

3. An ingot buggy comprising a wheeled carriage, an inclined roll table on said carriage, a counterweighted receptacle trunnioned on the forward part of said carriage and adapted for holding an ingot tilted at a substantial angle from the vertical, a releasable latch normally holding the receptacle upright and means for controlling the gravitational discharge of the ingot after the latch is released.

4. An ingot buggy comprising a wheeled carriage, a forwardly inclined roll table on said carriage, a counterweighted receptacle trunnioned of the guideways 5| and 62. At this point, if the 1 on said carriage and adapted for holding an ingot tilted forwardly or rearwardly at a substantial angle from the vertical, a releasable latch normally holding the receptacle upright, and means for permitting the gravitational discharge of the ingot with the desired end foremost after release of the latch.

5. An ingot buggy comprising a wheeled carriage, an inclined roll table on said carriage, a counterweighted receptacle trunnioned on said carriage and adapted for holding an ingot disposed at anangle not less than 30 degrees from the vertical, a releasable latchnormally holding the receptacle upright, and motion-limiting means for permitting controlled gravitational discharge of the ingot from the receptacle on release of the latch.

6. An ingot buggy comprising a wheeled carriage, a receptacle pivoted to the carriage adapted to receive an ingot in a forwardly or rearwardly leaningposition and to have its center of gravity thereby shifted in the direction in which the ingot leans, a releasable bottom latch normally preventing the tendency of the receptacle to turn with the ingot, and means for-controlling the turning of the receptacle upon release of the latch to discharge the ingot.

7. An ingot buggy comprising a wheeled carriage, a receptacle trunnioned on the carriage for holding an ingot tilted forwardly or rearwardly at an angle from the vertical, latching means on the carriage and normally engaging slots in the receptacle and thereby holding the receptacle upright on the carriage, means for releasing the latching means, and guide means for permitting the receptacle to tilt by gravity in an orderly manner in the direction of ingot tilt to discharge the ingot.

8. An ingot buggy comprising a wheeled carriage, a receptacle trunnioned-on the carriage for holding an ingot in tilted position, latching means normally holding the receptacle in upright position, means for tripping the latching means, and cam follower means on the receptacle adapted to coact with external guide cam means for controlling the tilting of the receptacle with respect to the carriage.

9. An ingot buggy comprising a wheeled car extending upper and lower cross members and bottom and end plates joining said side plates, downwardly sloping top plates supported by the upper cross members, an ingot end rest and bearings for rollers and trunnions mounted on said top plates, rollers forming a discharge table journaled in the roller bearings, bearing-boxes mounted on the side plates, flanged wheels on shafts journaled in said bearing-boxes, an ingot receptacle above the ingot end rest and pivoting on trunnions within the trunnion bearings, releasable latching means normally holding the receptacle in an upright position, and guide means for permitting the ingot in the receptacle to drop upon the discharge table upon the release of said latching means.

11. An ingot buggy comprising a wheeled car I riage, an inclined roll table and an ingot end rest on said carriage, an ingot receptacle comprising a pair of counterweighted spaced side plates trunnioned on said carriage and connected by a pair of spaced cross-members against either of which the ingot may be leaned, releasable latching means normally holding the receptacle in a fixed position relative to the carriage, and guide means for permitting the ingot in the receptacle to drop upon the inclined roll table and to be discharged therefrom after release of the latching means.

12. An ingot buggy comprising a wheeled carriage, a receptacle trunnioned on the carriage for holding an ingot tilted forwardly or rearwardly at a substantial angle from the vertical, a latch mounted on the carriage for normally resisting the tendency of the receptacle to tilt with the ingot, tripping meansfor releasing said latch, a cam roller mounted on the receptacle, a pair of bifurcated grooved cam members adjacent the tripping means for engaging said roller and perinitting the receptacle to tilt by gravity in the riage, an ingot receptacle trunnioned on said car riage, latching means mounted laterally on the carriage normally engaging the receptacle and provided with outer rollers, external means codirection of ingot tilt and thereby to discharge the ingot onto the roll table, and a counterweight REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 793,877 James July 4, 1905 1,731,691 Webb Oct. 15, 1929 1,862,848 Theologus June 12. 1934 2,345,728 Claus et a1. April 4, 1944 

